Alexander: It is a squad game

1 August 2014

James Edwards

Manager on final pre-season friendly

Graham Alexander believes that Partick Thistle will provide another stern test for his Fleetwood Town side on Saturday afternoon in what will be the last pre-season friendly before the big kick-off against Crewe Alexandra on the 9th August.

Town tasted defeat last Sunday afternoon up in the Scottish highlands, as they fell to a 2-1 reverse against Inverness, and Alexander is hoping for improvement against the Jags.

Fleetwood have enjoyed a fruitful pre-season campaign, with the main test being the annual trip to Austria where they faced stern opposition in the form of Russian Premier League outfit FC Terek Grozny.

A number of players have caught the eye, and Saturday will be another opportunity to impress before taking on the Alex at Highbury on the opening day of the League One campaign.

Talking to the Club’s official website ahead of the game against Partick, Alexander said: “We’re looking forward to the game, but we know it’ll be another tough test as Partick are a good team with some good players amongst their ranks.”

Town will be looking to improve on last Sunday’s result, and Alexander is wary of the threat Scottish teams pose: “There’s a number of technical footballers in the Scottish game, and some good football is played up there.”

He added: “We need to make sure we get our game together though and be as prepared as we can for it. The aim for us is to get into good habits right from the start and we’re hoping it’ll begin on Saturday.”

With players impressing during the close-season, Alexander admits that the management have a tough task on their hands to decide who gets the nod come the 9th August: “We’ve used all of our pre-season games to give as many minutes as possible to the lads, and we think we’ve managed them as best as we could. The majority of the squad will be used over the course of the season.”

The 42-year-old paid testament to the quality of his squad however, and the options he has available to him: “You need a competitive squad to be successful, and it’s been like that here since I came in on day one. If the lads do well enough to keep their shirts then they will, but if their standards drop they know that there’ll be plenty of players pushing them on behind.”
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